O beautiful for spacious skies,
For amber waves of grain;
For purple mountain majesties
Above the fruited plain!
America! America!
God shed His grace on thee,
And crown thy good with brotherhood,
From sea to shining sea.

Such stirring lyrics are good reminders of a wonderful land God has given us.

And they are also reminders we can/should love our native land and be able to

separate her from all the war mongering she has recently been involved in.

And love American enough to oppose the war on her, from within, called socialism.

“Must I go, and empty handed,”
Thus my dear Redeemer meet?
Not one day of service give Him,
Lay no trophy at His feet?

Refrain

“Must I go, and empty handed?”
Must I meet my Savior so?
Not one soul with which to greet Him,
Must I empty handed go?

2.

Not at death I shrink or falter,
For my Savior saves me now;
But to meet Him empty handed,
Thought of that now clouds my brow.

3.

O the years in sinning wasted,
Could I but recall them now,
I would give them to my Savior,
To His will I’d gladly bow.

4.

O ye saints, arouse, be earnest,
Up and work while yet ’tis day;
Ere the night of death o’ertake thee,
Strive for souls while still you may.

Charles Carroll Luther was born this date (5/17/1847) Wor­ces­ter, MA. Luther at­tend­ed Brown Un­i­ver­si­ty, and was a jour­nal­ist and lay evan­gel­ist be­fore be­ing or­dained as a Bap­tist min­is­ter in 1886. He died 11/4/1924 at Farm­ing­dale, Long Is­land, NY.

Sure as Thy truth shall last,
To Zion shall be given
The brightest glories earth can yield
And brighter bliss of Heaven.

Timothy Dwight was born this date (5/14 1752) in Northampton, MA, Congregationalist, Dwight was a grandson of Jonathan Edwards and later the president of Yale University. He led the revival at Yale which resulted in many students being converted to Christ Jesus. He wrote some thirty three hymns and/or gospel songs.

Once to every man and nation, comes the moment to decide,
In the strife of truth with falsehood, for the good or evil side;
Some great cause, some great decision, offering each the bloom or blight,
And the choice goes by forever, ’twixt that darkness and that light.

Then to side with truth is noble, when we share her wretched crust,
Ere her cause bring fame and profit, and ’tis prosperous to be just;
Then it is the brave man chooses while the coward stands aside,
Till the multitude make virtue of the faith they had denied.

By the light of burning martyrs, Christ, Thy bleeding feet we track,
Toiling up new Calv’ries ever with the cross that turns not back;
New occasions teach new duties, time makes ancient good uncouth,
They must upward still and onward, who would keep abreast of truth.

Though the cause of evil prosper, yet the truth alone is strong;
Though her portion be the scaffold, and upon the throne be wrong;
Yet that scaffold sways the future, and behind the dim unknown,
Standeth God within the shadow, keeping watch above His own.

James Russel Lowell was born this date (2/22/1819) in Cambridge, MA. Lowell wrote this poem (one of this many poems) as protest to America’s war with Mexico.